I spent the first half of class reading poetry today. I first began with reading some of my own past written poems, to see what/how I was writing for my past creative writing courses. It was a good way of reviewing what I have learned about writing poetry. I noticed that I focused a lot on Islam/Hijab in my first creative writing class. In my advanced level poetry writing class I focused mostly on Syria/Childhood. It reminded me of some of the poetry forms that I enjoy writing (although I will probably stick with free verse), and also the ways that I approached talking about these topics. I also began reading The House on Mango Street, as it was the only book on my list of author sources I have not read, but I included it because it is very short, and written in vignettes. I also tried writing some poems, but I think I should do more reading first to help inspire me and get me thinking more proactively about how I can write about identity in a poem. I was not happy with the poem I wrote today, so I will probably focus on reading more before I delve deep into writing poetry. I also collected many of the materials (yarns) I will be using for my tapestries, so I should be able to start weaving soon.
Here are some ideas I brainstormed that I want to explore in my poems:
· It’s a choice, which heritage you choose to hold most dear
· Sometimes I didn’t talk because my Arabic would be insufficient to tell them what I want to say
· You forget what it’s like to have cold ears wearing Hijab, and only those that matter see she is beautiful
· Cultural foods
· Nature, place, and buildings and how that shapes who you are
